Belly fat reduces mental performance

Belly fat affects the cognitive abilities of seniors

22.03.2012

A high proportion of abdominal fat (visceral fat) is related to cognitive performance in old age. The larger the abdominal circumference, the lower the mental abilities of people between the ages of 60 and 70 years, according to the statement of South Korean researchers in the journal of Oxford University „Age and Aging“.

Study Leader Dae Hyun Yoon from the Department of Psychiatry at „Seoul National University Hospital Healthcare System Gangnam Center“ and his colleagues have found that a high percentage of belly fat in the „boys“ Seniors between the ages of 60 and 70 years associated with a significant impairment of cognitive performance. However, the effect on the over-70s has been relativized again, the statement of the Korean researchers.

Cognitive performance decreases with increasing waist size
The scientists Dae Hyun Yoon had examined the adipose tissue of 250 study participants aged 60 years or older using anthropometric measurements and computed tomography (CT). In the study, the researchers determined the body mass index (BMI), the waist circumference and the visceral and subcutaneous abdominal fat of the subjects. In addition, the study participants completed various cognitive tests to determine their mental fitness. The researchers found that the subjects aged 60 to 70 years with much stored abdominal fat significantly less cognitive performance than age-matched normal weight. Intellectual performance has been steadily decreasing as the waist size increases, write Dae Hyun Yoon and colleagues. However, the link is only visceral adipose tissue, while the subcutaneous fat directly under the skin has little effect on cognitive performance. Also, the high belly fat content is only with „A poor adult cognitive performance between 60 and 70 years old“, while the mental capacity of older volunteers was not affected by the belly fat. With increasing age, the association between visceral obesity and low cognitive performance seemed to be waning again, according to South Korean researchers.

Avoidance of abdominal fat for the prevention of dementia?
However, the scientists could not provide an explanation for the discovered connection between abdominal fat and cognitive ability in old age. A direct causal connection, for example, about certain metabolic influences could not be established. However, previous studies have already revealed a similar relationship between abdominal fat levels and cognitive performance, write Dae Hyun Yoon and colleagues. The researchers suspect that the belly fat is more likely to lead to disorders in the sugar and fat metabolism of the body, as fatty tissue under the skin and thus possibly exercise an influence on mental performance. To confirm the results, however, more comprehensive studies with significantly larger samples are required, the statement of the Korean researchers. But also the current one „Study has important public health implications“, said Dae Hyun Yoon, because possibly could avoid the overweight, in particular „Central obesity“, help in the prevention of neurodegenerative diseases such as dementia and Alzheimer's.

Function of the brain affected by obesity
Swedish researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm suggest that there is an association between brain disease and increased body weight. Also Antonio Convit from Nathan Kline of the Institute of Psychiatry Research in New York wrote in early January in the journal „Brain“, that a significant reduction of certain reward and appetite centers in the cerebrum as well as significant structural damage of the brain in obese people were observed. Their study suggests that the proinflammatory effect of obesity in the nervous system, already known from earlier studies, can shrink entire areas of the brain. The Swedish researchers came to similar conclusions, pointing out the importance of a healthy diet for health in old age. (Fp)

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Picture: Etak